New chiral tridentate ligands for asymmetric catalysis*
Kevin Murtagh, Brian A. Sweetman, and Patrick J. Guiry
Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology, Conway Institute for Biomedical and Biomolecular Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
Abstract: The synthesis of new tridentate, isoquinoline-derived ligands, involving successive Suzuki cross-coupling reactions, is described. We were able to resolve 1-[3-(2-hydroxy-phenyl)-isoquinolin-1-yl]-naphthalen-2-ol via molecular complexation with N-benzylcinchonidinium chloride, whereas 1,3-bis(2-hydroxy-naphthalen-1-yl)-isoquinoline was resolved by chromatographic separation of its epimeric camphorsulfonates. Their barrier to rotation about the central biaryl axis was evaluated via racemization studies. Application of enantiopure 1,3-bis(2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)-isoquinoline in the addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes proceeded in moderate yield but without asymmetric induction. A new tridentate ligand, 4-tert-butyl-2-chloro-6-[1-(2-hydroxymethyl-naphthalen-1-yl)-isoquinolin-3-yl]-phenol, was prepared in good yield and resolved by semipreparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Its application in the addition of diethylzinc to a range of aromatic aldehydes proceeded in near perfect enantioselectivities at low ligand loadings of 1 mol %.
Keywords: atropisomerism; biaryls; Suzuki cross-coupling; resolution; racemization.
*Pure Appl. Chem. 78, 197-523. An issue of reviews and research papers based on lectures presented at the 13th IUPAC International Symposium on Organometallic Chemistry Directed Towards Organic Synthesis (OMCOS-13), Geneva, Switzerland, 17-21 July 2005.